Sabah Port Congestion Now Systemic Logistics Issue, Says CILTM Sabah Chairman

By Jailani Hasan

LABUAN, May 13 (Bernama) -- Sabah has significant potential to strengthen its trade competitiveness and economic resilience by addressing long-standing logistics and port efficiency challenges, according to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Malaysia (CILTM) Sabah.

Its chairman, Daniel Doughty, said improving cargo flow efficiency and reducing vessel waiting times would enhance supply chain reliability, lower business costs, and boost investor confidence, benefiting manufacturers, exporters, importers and consumers across the state economy.

Productivity and vessel performance data from January 2023 to April 2026 showed that vessel waiting hours and overall port stay durations had risen sharply despite improvements in some berth productivity indicators.

“For many years, discussions surrounding port congestion in Sabah have often been treated as temporary operational disturbances.

“That assumption is no longer sustainable. The data paints a far more serious picture. Sabah is increasingly facing a systemic supply chain stress issue,” he told Bernama today.

Doughty was commenting on the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Sabah branch’s criticism that congestion at Sabah ports had become a man-made logistical crisis, with port operations reaching a “state of paralysis”.

FMM Sabah chairman Liaw Hen Kong had reportedly cited severe disruptions to container trucking, vessel omissions, container rollovers and prolonged gate-in and gate-out delays, while criticising the “Congestion Surcharge” and “General Rate Increase” imposed by feeder operators effective May 7.

Under the surcharge, carrier-owned container shipments to and from Kota Kinabalu will increase by RM500 for a 20-footer and RM1,000 for a 40-footer, while shipper-owned containers will incur charges of US$130 for a 20-footer and US$260 for a 40-footer (US$1=RM3.9).

Doughty said modern ports were measured not only by crane productivity but by total system flow efficiency, from vessel arrival to cargo evacuation and inland distribution.

He said domestic liner waiting hours had reached concerning levels in 2024, 2025 and again in 2026, with some periods exceeding 100 hours before berthing.

Doughty said such delays disrupted shipping schedules, container repositioning, feeder connectivity, crew utilisation, fuel efficiency and fleet deployment planning, with shipping lines eventually recovering costs through higher freight rates, surcharges and risk premiums.

“In the end, the Sabah economy absorbs the cost, with consumers paying more, businesses facing higher logistics overheads and exporters losing competitiveness.

“This is why port congestion should not be viewed narrowly as a port operator problem, but as an economic system problem,” he said.

Doughty said while gross moves per hour (GMPH) for domestic liner operations had improved in parts of 2024 and 2025, at times exceeding 22 GMPH, congestion continued to worsen, pointing to structural weaknesses in the wider logistics ecosystem.

He said ports were closely linked to Customs processes, trucking availability, depot operations, warehouse capacity, importer collection behaviour, inland distribution networks and cargo clearance cycles.

“When these systems are not aligned, containers stay longer in terminal yards, yard density rises, truck turnaround weakens, and vessel queues begin forming offshore. Once this cycle begins, congestion becomes self-reinforcing,” said Doughty.

He noted that prolonged gateway port instability could affect Sabah’s food security, construction materials, industrial equipment, retail goods, manufacturing inputs, energy-related cargoes and export sectors, including palm oil downstream activities, manufacturing, frozen products, agriculture and project cargo.

Investor confidence would also be affected as investors assessed the efficiency and predictability of supply chain infrastructure, said Doughty.

“Ports represent the bloodstream of trade and persistent congestion signals operational uncertainty,” he said.

Doughty said the congestion data should be treated as an urgent strategic warning for Sabah to pursue coordinated, evidence-based and system-level logistics reform instead of short-term operational firefighting.

-- BERNAMA